This Year's Model
by Elvis Costello

From junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/20/2012 23:46 | #40585 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I dismissed Elvis Costello as a wuss that bohemian girls liked, but nobody else would, until I dated a super-hot bohemian girl who insisted I give him a fair try. Was it my hormones or my brain that convinced me I was wrong? I'd say it was somewhere in my gut. This album should win anyone over. (Edited)

In my opinion, this is the greatest Elvis Costello album. It's angry, energetic, and melodic, everything you want from Costello. The key ingredient to the succes of the record, is the debut appearance of The Attractions, Costello always made his best music with them, and this is the ultimate attractions record. No action, kicks it off in frantic fashion, and the album never lets up, from the swagger of, pump it up, to the brilliance of, I don't want to go to Chelsea, to the beautiful, little triggers. Everything here is great, the title track, well, this year's girl, anyway, lipstick vogue, and closing track, radio,radio(at least on some versions). If you want to hear why Elvis Costello is so great, this is the album to get. Superb.

From indieshins 02/25/2018 06:26 | #209555 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This one was where I knew I'd found something special. The magic of Costello's new band the Attractions was immediately obvious in the furious, white-hot energy that permeated opener No Action. The group just seemed to gel, even as the new band was rushed into recording songs that they barely knew. However, this is part of the charm of This Year's Model, an album constantly teetering on collapse as it careens endlessly forward. The classics just keep coming - This Years Girl, Pump It Up, Chelsea, Lip Service. Even the lesser songs are served well by the virtuosic playing of Nieve, Thomas, and Thomas, and the dense, allusive and bitterly funny lyrics of Costello. A masterpiece and one of my favourite Attractions records!

From Boltzmann TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/09/2020 10:43 | #248593 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Fun rock 'n' roll with an inevitable punk tinge. Pretty forgettable. Really don't know why people are calling this a masterpiece, no clue. I hope it has something to do with his lyrics, 'cause the music can't be it. I would not go as far to say he should've stayed playing in pubs, but he gives me a certain please-the-crowd impression that you see in your local pub rock star. In a time when disco was booming and the critics overpopulated by them who hate it, of course they're gonna throw every pub rocker in the spotlight that can write slightly above average tunes and (supposedly) is a very intelligent writer. And then Pitchfork probably just didn't dare to go against the consensus that was established with its release (and god knows the average music forum visitor doesn't have the spine). So I think the initial reaction which was exeggarated because of the fear to lose rock to disco has now put us in an endless peer pressure loop that forces everyone to love it.
I'll be honest if you are: the album is not exactly '50s/'60s rock 'n' roll; I wouldn't go so far to say you could just as well put on some Presley or Berry, but there is no huge departure, and the bit in his style that is slightly different is half punk mimicry and half the melodic side to it that makes critics shout power pop. Sure, coin a new term for a genre for an incredibly tiny, stylistic change, it wouldn't be the last time this happens. So now the question: Has this style he has inspired a lot of artists that came after? Can you even name one artist whose music has a clear Elvis Costello influence? Sure, some artists say they liked it a lot, but that's not cultural relevance. I think even if you would find one artist, you wouldn't even notice since it is nearly indistinguishable from old school rock 'n' roll.

From Mr. Shankly TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/02/2009 03:57 | #5026 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Elvis at his most visceral and tuneful simultaneously. Also, the Attractions deserve a lot of credit for taking his music to the next level. The songs on My Aim is True were tuneful, well-crafted, and once in a while had a little swagger to them, but the songs on This Year's Model flat out rock without sacrificing any of the great pop songcraft. That's why This Year's Model is a better album.